Pranayama - working with breath and focus - is an important part of my life, yet it seems to me that most people who regularly practice yoga asanas and meditation are unenthusiastic or even fearful about incorporating Pranayama into their daily regimes. But this is such a missed opportunity! I have found that regular practices of Pranayama, even short ones, makes me more grounded, patient, understanding and happier. Like meditation, Pranayama is a tool to bring more Light, aspiration and stillness into my life, to help me to better discern and remember what is important, and to more readily deal with things that bring me out of balance.  Yes, you might say, that's why I do asana and meditation.  So why add Pranayama?

A regular pranayama practice is both like a paint primer and like an accelerant.  Like a primer, it prepares and readies the connections between our "tricky triad" - the mind, body and spirit - and makes access between them smoother, quicker, and allows them to flow.  And, like an accelerant, I have found pranayama imprints what we learn more quickly and profoundly in our bodies, minds and spirits, so that, like traveling a familiar route, it becomes easier and easier for important lessons to spread into those occasional rough spots.

As I get older (and the grayer I get) my asana practice softens. Therefore, I find the richness and energy of my pranayama practice fills in the gaps. In addition to more conducive environments, I also do pranayama while waiting for the bus, sitting on the bus (earplugs are helpful), waiting in line, during meetings which are boring, and at all kinds of imperfect times! With regularity, Pranayama enhances, enriches, and eases my life.